One Day...Four Seasons

   Sometimes, Mother Nature just cannot make up her mind.  She, like so many of us, can be described as downright fickle!  Frosty one day, hot the next seems to be the norm now.  I am ok with that but, my goodness, Mother Nature, don't go smacking the seasons totally together!  That just gets far too confusing for everyone!

  Early this morning, I wandered through the gardens only to wind up behind the greenhouses.  Being as this area is sheltered from the north wind, I had left the potted lemon trees on the little back deck with good intentions of finally getting them transplanted in the ground.  Since the other citrus trees fare well during our winters, I figured there was not much use in lugging the huge pots into the greenhouse.  The trees did well and I was fully surprised to see new growth and large buds on the branches!  Whoa!  Hold on, Lemon Trees!  It is not spring yet!  The trees begged to differ, however.  As I looked, I began to notice more and more buds on all four lemon trees.  Well, if a late freeze does come, I suppose I shall be hauling the trees into the greenhouse after all just to try to save the blooms.  Mother Nature!  You sure are pushing it!  I shook my head in disbelief.

  Turning back toward the garden, a flash of red caught my eye.  Oh, my!  Just a few steps before, it was spring!  Now, it is fall!  Yep, one of the Sweetgum trees was in its glory with red leaves!  The bright red leaves brought some much needed color to the yard but that poor tree must totally be confused!  The small tree stuck out like a sore thumb among all the drab of winter.  

 Huh?  Wait!  It IS supposed to be winter!  Fall was several months ago!  Come on, Mother Nature!  Really?  Spring and fall right in the middle of winter?  My thoughts were jumbled.  I was trying to wrap my head around what was happening here as I slapped a mosquito that was buzzing around my ear.  Mosquito???  Oh, no....summer, too?  Mother Nature!  This is too much!  Stop it!  *Just as an added note...our temperatures reached nigh on 80 degrees this afternoon but are supposed to plummet into the 30s tonight.  Crazy!

Creeping In...

  Despite have a couple of cool nights, I think spring must have come slipping in without big fanfare.  Lady Spring has a way of letting us know by subtle hints before bursting forth in all her glory.  A tiny wood sorrel bloom, a bird calling for its mate or just a warm night can bring joy because these are harbingers of what is to come.  Usually, here on the Bayou, one of our first clues is hordes of gnats.  This year, however, those gnats never disappeared so their presence meant nary a thing.  Still, I do believe spring has quietly come.

  As Son and I were working out back near the canebrake, a slight breeze wafted our way and caused me to stop in my tracks!  Yep!  That is the "smell" of spring.  The citrus trees are all pushing out their blossoms and the yard is filled with the sweet scent.  The first to bloom are always the lemon trees followed by the navel oranges then come the satsumas and grapefruit.  What I was smelling today was the navel oranges and lemons!  How delightful!

  Our chores soon took us to the opposite side of the house where I smelled the marsh but found more evidence of spring.  The fig trees were all budding out with new leaves and one had a brave little fig!  There was not a leaf on the tree but a tiny little fig had decided it was time to make a debut!  Ta-da!  I am here!  Oh, little figlet (yeah, I know...not a word but should be!), you may be getting a tad chilly before you are able to mature but I admire your tenacity!

  So, perhaps I did not pull all of the potted plants out of the greenhouse prematurely.   Perhaps, I will not have to drape blankets over said plants because of threatening frost (like last night).  Perhaps...just perhaps Lady Spring is here to stay.

The Limon Tree???

  Along about this time of year, I get to pondering the methods used to create "hybrid" or specialty fruits.  There is a lot of work that goes into cross pollinating blooms.  Maybe the process has changed a good bit since I helped Pop back on the farm but the idea is probably still the same.  Most of the time, we were experimenting with fruit trees.  You find the fruit tree that makes the largest, sweetest and most appealing fruit, then artificially pollinate it with a tree that is a prolific bearer.  The result would hopefully be a tree that had both.  It took knowledge, time and an awful lot of patience and luck to get the results that were desired.  Grafting seemed to be the way to go.  With grafting, a branch from one tree was attached to another and you merely came up with more trees with the same type of fruit.  It was easier than pollinating and did not take nearly as long to see results.

  What brings up this matter is that the citrus trees are blooming.  While we have a variety of trees, one in particular, started the pondering.  Years ago, this tree started out as a lemon.  It made the nicest lemons imaginable!  Then, a few days of below freezing weather brought that all to a halt.  The tree died all the way to the ground.  I was ready to pull up the dead thing and start over but at the urging of Son, I did not.  "Give it time." said the man of few words.  So I did.  The tree grew.  I suppose this was a grafted tree and the "lemon" died but the original tree root somehow survived...but what was that original rootstock?   

  Once the tree was large enough to bloom, it did so profusely!  Thousands of blooms dotted the branches.  Oddly enough, the blooms outnumber the leaves making a rather funny looking tree.  Of those thousands of blooms, some made fruit. The tree was no longer a lemon tree.  The fruit appeared to be a lime...on the outside.  It never ripened to the lemon yellow but stayed the rich lime green.  Inside, however, the fruit tasted like lemon!  It was delicious!  So the tree stayed.

  This year, the tree did not disappoint with its blooms.  Hopefully, I will have a bumper crop of lemons...uhh...limes....uhh...limons?  Whatever!  

Mother Nature and Lady Spring Were On The Job!

  The first day of spring came to the Bayou with all of its glory blazing.  It was a gorgeous day with sunshine, a slight breeze and all of the other trappings.  Birds were singing, bees were buzzing and flowers were blooming....everywhere!  Yep.  The hillside is in full bloom and the yard smells divine!  After a long few months of nothing but rain and fog, spring is welcome.

  After helping Son install a new ceiling in the hallway, I headed out to the gardens.  If spring is here, it is high time to get those seeds in the ground.  Of course, the potatoes are already 15 inches tall and the greenhouse is full of seedling tomatoes and bell peppers but I have a hankering for fresh squash and green beans.  Having little packets of seeds is not satisfying that whim at all so it was my aim to get the garden in shape.  About two hours later, a break was needed so gardening evolved into a hike.  Oh, what a glorious time, that was!!!

  Citrus trees, peach trees, plum trees were showing their best attire, wisteria draped heavy sprays of blossoms across the arbor and tiny wildflowers dotted the hillside.  It was almost as if overnight, Mother Nature decorated the Bayou! She called Lady Spring to drop in for a visit!  As I wandered about the place, I was simply dazzled by the sight.  Spring is definitely here.

Looking On The Bright Side

  We had several hard freezes this past winter.  Not many but enough that it caused problems and is still causing problems.  In the Deep South, it is not uncommon to see citrus trees growing in our yards.  Usually, the lack of winter cold makes for fine growing for these trees but that one cold snap that sees the temperatures drop in the teens for a few days harms the trees.  This year, we had a few of those hard freezes that damaged the citrus trees.  In spite of my efforts to protect the trees, a good many of the limbs were killed.  My citrus grove looks terrible but there is nothing to do but trim back the limbs and hope for the best.

  Recently, I was out wandering behind the house when a delightful aroma wafted through the air.  Ahh, citrus blossoms!  Yep, the satsuma trees were blooming on the few branches that remained green! This sight gave me hope that at least the trees would attempt regrowth!

  The blooms that I inspected looked good and had the tiny oranges intact.  No, we will not have a bumper crop this year.  No, the grapefruit trees do not have blooms nor do the navel oranges and lime trees but the satsumas and lemons are bursting forth with new leaves and blooms!  Somehow, that makes things all better.  

  There is nothing like a tiny leaf or blossom to make you realize that life goes on regardless of hardships.  That one step forward is all it takes to make things better.  I figure if a rag-tag tree that has been put through the mill can grace the yard with its heavenly scent, then I can face whatever is thrown at me.  Here's to looking on the bright side!

A Different World Altogether

  Son has often said that it does not take a lot to entertain me.  This can be taken either way...good or bad...so I choose to look at it in a positive way.  To me, it means that my imagination has not died with the influx of artificial stimulation.  Anything can act as a trigger to take me to some faraway, magical place.  It must be the influence of my late Aunt Helen.  She never bored of daily life because she had the ability to be a thousand miles away in her thoughts.  She taught me well.  

  This morning's hike was a damp one.  A thick fog shrouded the entire Bayou muffling footsteps and holding the sights and scents close around me.  Making my way around the back path, the heady aroma of citrus blossoms mingled with the enticing scent of trailing wisteria blooms engulfed me.  This was enough to start the imagination but the sight of moss-covered bricks sent it into overdrive.  The brain found that moss oddly alluring.  Suddenly the whole world whirled around in a myriad of thoughts of romance, moonlit walks and happy endings.  Perhaps these were from tales told by grandparents so many years ago or perhaps it was just all of the elements of the day coming together in harmony but I was thrown into a mystical, magical world for a bit.  It was a place that was hard to leave.  That first step back into reality was difficult.  I wanted to throw the day's chores to the wind and stay in my "happy place" for the day.

  It is nice it to simply waltz into a different life now and again...to let mundane things become exquisite...to find happiness at your own backdoor.  I think everyone needs an Aunt Helen at some point in life.   She is needed to teach us all how to imagine what can be.